CITY BIDS FAREWELL TO ANCIENT BROKER March 17, 2010 AFTER over 200 years providing services to the City of London, it was a sad farewell yesterday to the oldest stockbroking name in the Square Mile. The origins of Hichens Harrison can be traced back to at least 1803, when it was in business shortly following the formation of the Stock Exchange, though the exact [...]
Nicholls to land double with Alfie and Poquelin March 17, 2010 PHILIP Hobbs has his string in rude health and I’ll be taking a chance on his COPPER BLEU in the opener at 16/1 with William Hill. The eight-year-old was only narrowly touched off at Aintree last year having finished fourth in the Supreme Novices at the Festival. He looks to have been campaigned with this [...]
Barbers Shop is no match for Nicholls’ Poquelin in Ryanair March 17, 2010 AGAIN, it’s certainly worth taking advantage of one of Sporting Index’s numerous match bets this afternoon. By challenging their prediction of the distance between a chosen pair of horses as they cross the line in a race, you can oppose any horse that you don’t fancy. The maximum winning distance make-up is set at 15 [...]
CHELTENHAM BRINGS THE CITY OUT IN FORCE March 16, 2010 TO Gloucestershire yesterday for the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, the favourite corporate entertainment jolly of the year for many a self-respecting racegoer. Bucking the austere trend of recent years, this year’s Festival has already seen a roaring trade in City schmoozing, with the long list of companies taking private suites including HSBC, BlackRock, [...]
Continental to scrap free in-flight meals March 15, 2010 CONTINENTAL Airlines yesterday unveiled plans to save around $35m (£23.3m) a year by axing its free in-flight meal service on shorter economy flights in the US. Continental was the last among its major competitors to hang on to the free meal concept in economy class, after the pressures of the economic downturn forced many to [...]
Kauto on top but don’t rule out Denman March 14, 2010 Paul Nicholls started training in 1991 after injury brought to an end a career in the saddle that saw him ride back-to-back Hennessy Gold Cups on Playschool in 1986 and Broadheath in 1987. He only managed to fill eight of the 28 boxes in his first season at Manor Farm Stables in Somerset, but it’s [...]
Aer Lingus losses shoot up as cuts loom March 9, 2010 AER lingus has announced that its operating losses quadrupled to €81m (£73.5m) last year. The Irish carrier’s revenue plummeted 11 per cent to €1.2bn. It has fended off two hostile bids by low-cost rival Ryanair but is locked in a dispute with cabin staff over its cost-cutting programme. The company’s board will meet to adjust [...]
Aer Lingus delays results after cabin crew reject cuts March 8, 2010 IRISH airline Aer Lingus will not publish its 2009 earnings today as planned so it can adjust provisions for cost-cutting measures that cabin crew rejected last week. The Irish flag carrier said it would not publish full results until an unspecified date. It will issue a brief trading statement today instead. Aer Lingus, which has [...]
EasyJet sees its passenger numbers rise March 4, 2010 THE number of passengers carried by budget airline easyJet in February was 12.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, though the load factor was lower. EasyJet carried 3.39m passengers in February 2009, compared with 3.02m who used the airline in February 2008, according to figures released by the airine yesterday. However the load factor [...]
Stelios uses EasyJet shares as collateral to secure a £5m loan February 17, 2010 EasyJet owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has raised £5m by using shares as collateral for a loan. An unnamed lender accepted 1.27m shares as collateral in a deal arranged by UBS. The arrangement mirrors a deal in September, when Stelios raised £7.5m by using 2m shares as collateral on a loan through Credit Suisse. EasyGroup has [...]